LaughingStockNation

About the people, politics and beliefs leading us down the road to pandemonium

political convention

Friday, April 17, 2020

Essential Business

States hoping to stop the spread of coronavirus have closed schools and non-essential businesses and told citizens to stay at home except for urgent tasks like shopping for food or filling prescriptions.

But these rules have made some people edgy. President Trump, for example, said he was tired of watching reruns of old baseball games and longs for the real thing (can you believe it, baseball fans?).

Now a few governors have decided to re-define some activities as "essential" because they appeal to certain constituencies. South Carolina has allowed sex shops to stay open. In Florida professional wrestling matches will be allowed.

Wrestling in Florida is essential to some people because it makes them lots of money. One beneficiary is Vince McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). McMahon is a pal of President Trump's and was named recently to the president's multi-industry council on re-opening the economy. So it's not surprising that Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and Trump sycophant, was happy to reclassify professional wrestling as an essential business, just like pharmacies and food markets.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Trump-Infected Zombies

Protest Anti-virus Restrictions

Thousands of demonstrators have blocked streets and impeded access to public buildings in Michigan, Ohio and several other states to protest state government stay-at-home orders meant to stop the spread of the coronavirus. President Trump supported the demonstrators, tweeting that they should "liberate" their states. Most of the protesters did not wear protective masks or maintain safe distance from others, as recommended by health experts. But some did carry firearms and wave Confederate flags, actions that epidemiologists say are not effective in preventing covid 19 disease. President Trump, has questioned the need for a continued shut-down across the country and has refused to wear a protective mask. As of 4/24/20, more than 50,000 Americans have died from the virus and there is not yet a vaccine or a cure.

Monday, March 4, 2019

President Trump

Reveals Previously

Unknown Oratorical Talent

"Now we have people that lost [the election] and unfortunately wrong people in a couple
of positions and they leave people for a long time that shouldn’t be there and
all of a sudden they’re trying to take you out with bull shit."

Speech to Conservative Political Action Conference, March 2,
2019

…That we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.

This great Nation will endure as it
has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my
firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless,
unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert
retreat into advance. Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address,March 4, 1943

So, my fellow
Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for
your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for
you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.John F. Kennedy
Inaugural Address, January 17, 1961.

…From
every mountainside, let freedom ring… And when this happens, and when we allow
freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from
every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of
God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and
Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro
spiritual: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are
free at last."Martin Luther King Jr., August 28, 1963.

This is
our time…to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the
American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are
one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and
doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless
creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.Barrack Obama,
Presidential Victory Speech, November 5,
2008

Friday, December 7, 2018

What’s in a Name?

A Lot if You’re Called Rick or Scott

Have you ever noticed that some of
America’s worst politicians are named either Rick or Scott and that one horrible governor has both names? Read on.

Rick Snyderof Michigan. He and his administration failed to aggressively address the Flint
water crisis and subsequent lead poisoning of Flint children. Also signed Michigan’s emergency manager law that allowed Snyder to fire local elected
officials and replace them with handpicked leaders who were given dictatorial
power over city affairs but never had to stand for election.

Scott Walkerof Wisconsin. With help from a Republican controlled
legislature, stripped the collective bargaining rights of public employees, cut
funds for public education and attempted to place state universities under
private control. Update, 12-14-18: Walker lost the 2018 election and will be out of office in January. But he has signed laws passed by lame duck Republican legislators that will curtail the constitutional powers of the newly elected Democratic governor and other Democratic state officials. Rick Snyder, Michigan's lame duck governor is considering similar authoritarian measures aimed at voiding state election results.

Rick Scott of Florida. Was forced to resign as CEO
of Columbia/Hospital Corporation of America because the company was found to
have defrauded Medicare and Medicaid. Though the company was heavily fined, Scott
was never charged with a crime and he went on to become governor of
Florida. He recently was declared winner in the race for U.S. senator even though votes in some urban areas went suspiciously uncounted
and election workers were harassed by Scott supporters while they counted
ballots.

Rick Perry. Former governor of Texas. Perry’s long record
of poor governance includes attacks on reproductive rights, restriction of
marriage rights, attempts to use government to impose fundamentalist religious
values and diversion of federal education funds to pay off the state budget
deficit caused by tax cuts. When
appointed by Trump as Secretary of Energy, Perry thought the job involved
supervision of the oil industry. In fact, it concerns nuclear weapons, nuclear
reactors and disposal of radioactive waste.

Rick Santorum. Former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. He’s a
perennial presidential candidate and one of America’s looniest politicians. He has advocated
the elimination of credit cards because they encourage overindulgence and
profligacy, He wants Americans to eat out less because it diminishes the traditional role of women in the
household and gluttony is a sin. Santorum also advocates repeal of the 21st
Amendment, which ended prohibition.

Scott Pruit,Former EPA head in the
Trump administration. Regularly traveled first class at government expense.
Paid $50 a night in high-rent Washington for a room in a house owned by the
wife of an energy lobbyist. Spent $3.5 million in government money for a
contingent of 20 personal security guards. Sent government paid aides out to
buy him football tickets and also used them to scout for used mattresses from
Trump hotels, presumably for use in his rented room.

Given
the record of the Scott and Rick governors, it’s not surprising that three of
the four are from states that rejected expansion of Medicaid under the
Affordable Care Act. Michigan is the exception.
Santorum opposes any form of government health program as well as Social
Security. He once told the story of his grandfather, who worked digging coal until he died at 72 and never needed government assistance. Scott Pruitt was forced out of the EPA job because he was more interested in the perks of office than protecting the environment and the health and well being of Americans.